


It's not all in the family

by Helioste (themedic_josef)



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Apollo (elder brother), Artemis (eldest sister), Celeste (elder sister), Dakota (elder brother), Eden (Mother), M/M, Orion (eldest brother), Polaris (Father), family au, mentions of neglect and actual neglect, other characters include Rhys' family that I created
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 23:26:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5474429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themedic_josef/pseuds/Helioste
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU in which Rhys' family decide to visit him on Pandora, nearly ruining Rhys' carefully built up life. Mentions of donotchoosesidesyet's Queen Bee AU.<br/>~~~~~~~~<br/>‘Rhys? Is that you? What on Pandora are you wearing?’ The eldest male of the group frowned, walking over with the eldest female lingering on his arm.</p><p>‘My work clothes, father.’</p><p>‘Work clothes?’ The females all giggled, shaking their heads as his mother tutted.</p><p>‘Rhys, sweetheart, you look terrible and I can see you even tried to make an effort for once.’ She said bluntly, Rhys glaring a little before a noise from his father made him stop.</p><p>‘I own Atlas, thank you very much, it’s the look that has to go with it. They don’t exactly call me the ‘Queen Bee’ for nothing.’ He said, rather coldly at that as his brothers and sisters all burst out laughing again at his definite expense.</p><p>‘Queen Bee? That’s what they’re callin’ you?’</p><p>‘Hey Orion, d’ya think his weapons all run on honey?’</p><p>‘Dakota, what if all his workers are jus’ little bees??’</p><p>‘Oi, Apollo, I’ll wager all his weapons are naff.’ Rhys rolled his eyes and glared at his brothers. Now he remembered why he didn’t like them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sudden and unexpected arrivals

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [repertoire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5264774) by [callmearcturus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmearcturus/pseuds/callmearcturus). 



> How does summary. ;;
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the first chapter of a brand new project I'll be working on! Rhys' siblings and parents are /totally/ the nicest people on Pandora, I swear. Mentions of particular relationships that might be budding, as well as certain ideas that I'm yet to decide upon including. Chances are if they're included there might be a drabble seperate from this to help explain them. I don't know yet. But still! Enjoy!

Atlas had made a surprising comeback in the span of six months, considering how Handsome Jack had ground it into the dust with his heel not too long ago. However the one thing that grabbed the absolute attention of the entire populations of Pandora and Elpis, among the other planets further out, was the “new face of Atlas”. This guy had come out of nowhere, starting at Old Haven and rebuilding the company again from the ground up and people said he’d just turned up there with the deeds to the company. There was no dirt on this guy, people knew very, _very_ little about him, only that he had the loyalty of a bandit king taking refuge in the remains of Helios Station. He was shrouded in mystery in the public eye and all anyone knew of him as a person was that he called himself Rhys. Stories said he was the guy who crashed the Hyperion space station that used to loom over Pandora and its moon as a deadly reminder of the man who once walked its halls. Stories said he was the guy who took on an AI copy of Handsome Jack, a copy that plagued him throughout his time on Pandora, and defeated him. Stories said that Rhys was the man who, in that moment amidst the devastation of Helios and in spite of everything Jack had put him through, forgave him and showed him mercy.

These stories were true, confirmed by Rhys himself in the first interview after his swift rise to fame in the corporate world caught the eyes of the media and public. He held no shame when he admitted it, head held high and shoulders back. The softness of his tone, the slow and carefully calculated movements and gestures of his hands, the perfect posture full of authority had been more than enough to earn the corporate giant the nickname of the ‘Queen Bee of Atlas’. Rhys appeared to like the attention greatly and revelled in the regular booms in business new customers brought in, profiting so well from the attention that it wasn’t long before Atlas had surpassed Torgue, Jakobs and even Maliwan. However, much to Rhys’ displeasure, it brought about heavy speculation and controversy, headlines often screaming _“Is this the new Hyperion?”_ , often accompanied by disturbing illustrations (that felt more like propaganda sometimes) of the Queen Bee himself wearing a mask just as Handsome Jack had done. That wasn’t the legacy Rhys wanted and thus initiated the ‘Peacekeeper Programme’. It aimed to do what Jack had failed to, except without the intentions of mass genocide or, as Rhys described it, _‘through the use of mindless, unnecessary violence and murder… but more on that later,’_ he’d purred as the interview had ended.

Regardless of what intentions he held, Rhys was a good enough man and almost anyone who met him took a liking to him immediately. He was kind, soft in his tone and calm, collected, patient. He was everything Jack hadn’t been to the personnel working for him and for the public around him and that was enough to make him a _saint_ in the public eye. Rhys had raised workers that were bored out of their skulls from perdition, he’d taken old blueprints from Hyperion itself and remodelled everything, he’d renovated Old Haven to the point it was barely recognisable as the hellhole it had been prior to his rise in fame and fortune and things only ever got better from there. A year after Rhys had first taken on Atlas for his own he’d managed to contact his old friends again, the group taking on the Vault of the Traveller in such style and almost grace it rocked Pandora to its core. Rhys had been among the first to lay claim to the loot within, taking all the Eridium deposits for himself as well as a majority of other trinkets and treasures. If there was one detail he never liked to talk about it was what he found within the vault itself. Apparently, according to popular gossip, he’d ventured in there with his friend Fiona, a grifter-turned-Vault-Hunter, and both seemed to go missing for a month or two. What had happened inside, no one knew. Neither would tell, always finding a smooth way to divert the conversation on to another topic entirely. After a while the press stopped asking and seemed to just accept what little they’d been given, suiting the CEO and Vault Hunter fine. Everything continued just as it had prior to the Vault, all content in their work and all content with each other but of course that wasn’t to stay that way forever. 

 

* * *

 

Rhys had been working away in his private lab when he’d gotten the call, drawing up plans for his little personal project that was no doubt going to cause uproar when it was publicised once accomplished. He looked up from the lamp-lit desk and had to take a moment to rub his eyes having been staring at blueprints for perhaps three hours straight. Stretching, he reached over sleepily for the ECHO comms that was beeping relentlessly and saw that it was Vaughn that had called him.

‘Vaughn? Sup buddy…?’ Rhys yawned into the comms, groaning as he leaned back in his chair before hearing Vaughn’s almost panicked voice come through the previous static. ‘Whoa, whoa, slow down… What’s going on?’

‘Helios’ sensors just picked up an external shuttle on its way to Pandora! We contacted it and it turns out the passengers are your family, Rhys!’ Vaughn said quickly, still tracking the shuttle on the radar as he talked. ‘Your parents _and_ your siblings are on their way!’ Rhys’ eyes went wider than one could have thought possible as he almost dropped the comms in panic. His family were on their way to Pandora? Now? At a time like this?

‘No, no, no Vaughn no they can’t be! They didn’t call ahead? Wasn’t there a message sent?’

‘Nothing! I asked the pilot and he said there was nothing sent ahead from any of them to either Atlas or Helios!’

‘Whereabouts is there position currently?’

‘Uh… They’ve already entered Pandora’s atmosphere. You have maybe an hour or two before they get there.’ Rhys let out an audible panicked groan, pushing his chair away and standing up quickly before starting to jog outside.

‘Thank you, Vaughn. I’m gonna have to make an announcement about this now. Keep me posted.’

‘Shall do, Rhys.’ Vaughn said as Rhys hung up, the CEO moving swiftly and grabbing the intercom microphone.

‘Very important announcement for _all_ personnel to abide by. I have extremely important visitors on their way and their ETA is one to two hours from now. This facility and the town around it need to be as clean and as presentable as possible. I apologise for any inconveniences caused I anyone’s work.’ Rhys said calmly, taking on his ‘CEO voice’ as his friends liked to call it before pulling on his clothes as swift as he could. He took the moment to polish his silver cybernetic arm that held honeycomb-like patterns embedded in the metal of the hand and the forearm, smiling absently at how it gleamed before shaking his head and doing himself up in the mirror of his en-suite room carefully. His hands were steady as he applied mascara slowly to his eyelashes, careful with the gloss as he painted his lips to shimmer in the hot light of Pandora’s sun, quick to repaint the honey-coloured nail varnish on his flesh hand before sorting his hair and then finally walking out to oversee the facility being cleaned up. It had long since been repainted to the new Atlas colours of honey and black and on the walls large, hexagonal lights were fixed, all glowing a warm yellow that lit up the shining metal of his prosthetic arm. The redecorating of the facility, and all other Atlas facilities, had created a warmer, friendlier and almost homely feel to each one, something Rhys strived to promote to create a different atmosphere to that Hyperion had, what with all the accusations that because he was an ex-Hyperion employee it automatically meant he was the same as the rest and exclusively the same as Handsome Jack. The wellbeing of his employees was important to him just as being the biggest and best manufacturer there possibly could be on Pandora.

Rhys focused as he passed scurrying personnel and cleaner-bots, facing forwards as he assisted in sorting out the landing pad before receiving a call.

‘Rhys?’ It was Vaughn again. ‘Rhys, they’re gonna land in forty minutes on the landing pad right outside Old Haven, the one for on-world shuttles. Just thought I’d give you a heads-up.’ Vaughn said, still monitoring his family’s position in Pandoran airspace.

‘Alright Vaughn, thank you for the warning.’ He thanked, nodding a little to himself as he asked to be put through to the pilot of the shuttle. ‘Sir, I’m going to have to redirect you to land further away from Old Haven. The landing pad you are aiming for is too close to the town and was constructed for on-world shuttles only. I worry your engines may cause unwanted damage.’

‘Ah, my apologies mister! Jus’ give the co-ordinates an’ I’ll land safer!’ The pilot answered after a minute of radio silence, agreeing as Rhys put through the desired information swiftly and stood back to watch out for the shuttle. It felt like the longest wait of his life thus far before he saw the particularly large spacecraft come into view. He tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes against the glare of the sun, hand shielding his eyes as he moved off and gestured for the guides to raise the lights and guide them in.

‘Carefully now, if you please.’ Rhys said quietly, watching the shuttle slowly descend and make the landing. He waited before he saw the doors hiss and open to reveal seven people he hadn’t missed at all in the years he’d spent at Helios. The seven disembarked with varying looks of distaste for their surroundings before all eyes settled on Rhys, frowns starting on their lips and eyebrows raising.

‘Rhys? Is that you? What on Pandora are you wearing?’ The eldest male of the group frowned, walking over with the eldest female lingering on his arm. ‘You look like you’ve come from a ridiculous carnival!’ he snorted, the three elder brothers laughing as Rhys felt crimson rising in his cheeks in shame.

‘My work clothes, father.’

‘Work clothes?’ The females all giggled, shaking their heads as his mother tutted.

‘Rhys, sweetheart, you look terrible and I can see you even tried to make an effort for once.’ She said bluntly, Rhys glaring a little before a noise from his father made him stop.

‘I own Atlas, thank you very much, it’s the look that has to go with it. They don’t exactly call me the ‘Queen Bee’ for nothing.’ He said, rather coldly at that as his brothers and sisters all burst out laughing again at his definite expense.

‘Queen Bee? That’s what they’re callin’ you?’

‘Hey Orion, d’ya think his weapons all run on honey?’

‘Dakota, what if all his workers are jus’ little bees??’

‘Oi, Apollo, I’ll wager all his weapons are naff.’ Rhys rolled his eyes and glared at his brothers. Now he remembered why he didn’t like them. Orion, the eldest at 38, was _the_ biggest ass of them all and while he was somewhat wise he certainly had his questionable moments. Dakota was the next eldest, 36, and revelled in his looks getting him what he wanted. Needless to say, Dakota and Artemis had gotten the good looks of the family and it got them to the places they wanted to go with ease. Artemis, 32, herself was the artistic one, as well as being just as vain as Dakota. Apollo and Celeste were giggling away quietly, shaking their heads. Apollo, 35, was the cockiest of them all, even surpassing their father, Polaris, in his youth while Celeste, 31, was polite and well-mannered. Evidently the only one in the family like that considering how his mother was as blunt as a wooden block and his father was an even bigger ass than Orion.

‘Boys, that’s enough. Let little Rhys have his fun with his playground.’ Their father chuckled, shaking his head as he pat their shoulders and walked over to Rhys, the youngest now feeling particularly deflated in their presence. ‘Say, where’s Vaughn? I heard he was around these parts. What’s he up to? How’s he doing?’ Rhys held in a sigh and stood as straight as he always had.

‘He’s fine. Why are you here, exactly?’ Rhys couldn’t help but ask, already feeling his blood pressure go up just by having to listen to his brothers and sisters laugh at him and it just broke his heart. In all the years he’d been absent, even the times he’d run away, and they still hadn’t changed one bit. They all still greatly disliked him, just because his parents wanted another little girl and not another boy and just because their failed attempts had reached double digits. Rhys had tried to do all he could to please them and even now, even with him being in control of the biggest weapons and tech manufacturer this side of the cosmos, he continued to disappoint.

‘Eh, just thought we’d pass by and see how our favourite boy is doing.’ For but a second Rhys’ heart swelled a little with pride, only for it to be punctured and deflated yet again as his mother chimed in.

‘When we heard about Helios crashing we were so worried about Vaughn. He’s always been such a weedy little thing, we needed to know if he was okay!’ She smiled, as jaded and as oblivious as the rest of them towards Rhys’ rejection from the family. Rhys twitched an eye, heart feeling cold and breaking yet again even after all the years he’d spent trying to repair it. Now he remembered why he resented them all entirely.


	2. Of Eridium and Explosions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which minor drama goes down, Rhys' father decides to be an ass and a couple of his siblings are actually proud of him for once. Also Vaughn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to have a bit of a poke around with Celeste and Orion, Artemis to a slight extent. I'll go into way more detail when I have proper time and all the kinks and personalities sorted out of each one :P  
> Enjoy!

Rhys had always been closer to his sisters than his brothers and for very obvious reasons. His brothers saw him as the ‘runt of the litter’ and there was more testosterone in the elder three than Rhys saw necessary. That, and his sisters had always been ten times nicer to him than anyone in the family and even the extended family. Artemis, while she didn’t always outwardly show it, cared deeply for Rhys and it showed when he would often walk into his room when they were younger and see all the materials he’d need for his classes. Celeste had always been more obviously caring towards Rhys in ways unimaginable. When she’d find him on the stairs listening to the conversations the others had about him she’d comfort him and make him a hot chocolate. She’d often ask him to model some clothes she’d made, being the textiles daughter and all. Rhys had never yet turned down an offer and while Celeste often couldn’t help herself from giggling at some of the nasty jokes and taunts the older siblings pulled, Rhys loved her dearly as well. It felt good to talk to them and only them without interruption as he walked them all inside the Atlas complex.

‘Rhys, who designed your clothes? They’re honestly really nice, ignore what mother says.’ Celeste couldn’t help but gush, smiling pleasantly as Rhys offered one back.

‘I designed them, actually.’

‘You did?’

‘Yeah. You know when I’d come wandering into your room and watch you work? I kinda picked up a couple of things from you.’ Rhys smiled, ears and cheeks warming as Artemis rolled her eyes and nudged him playfully.

‘You are so soft. And I’ll wager you still can’t punch properly.’

‘That’s why I made the stun baton line, Artemis, because I am indeed a giant weakling unless I’m using my cybernetic arm to hit someone.’ Rhys tutted, rolling his own eyes and smiling as he nudged her back just as playfully. It felt good to talk to them again, even if it was only those two out of seven.

He turned the corner in the complex and led them on the makeshift tour down certain sectors he deemed safe in Old Haven. He was well aware of his brothers and father all talking over him, or trying to, while his mother ditzed along without much care for what she saw. Only Celeste and Artemis were taking any interest in the things he’d accomplished. Unfortunately the timing of his ECHO comms was well off and in the middle of him explaining some of the other things they did at Atlas now it beeped loudly.

_~Rhys, come in Rhys, there’s been an Eridium explosion in the R &D sector. Urgent that you attend, sir, immediately~_

Rhys froze and listened to the message before his expression changed to one of complete authority. He barely took a second before turning on his heels sharply and taking off at a sprint down the lengthy corridors and hallways to the R&D sector of the facility.

‘Hey! Where the hell are you going?!’ Polaris, Rhys’ father, bellowed in irritation as they all soon took off after him in confusion, the girls sprinting faster along with Orion to catch up to their youngest sibling. Rhys barely spared a word as he arrived in the sector, skidding to a halt as he smelled burning Eridium and wrinkling his nose as it stuck to his nostrils. In but a few moments he was seeing to his personnel that had been in the laboratory the second their project had exploded, comforting them carefully and sending each one to get themselves tidied up and calmed down before examining the burnt-out room. He stepped carefully over the remains of the blast doors, frowning. Clearly he was going to have to reinvest in better blast doors if this was going to be a frequent occurrence and if a simple Eridium explosion could cause this much damage. Rhys walked into the room carefully, soon spying the shattered remains of the Eridium piece they’d been trying to carve. Evidently, Rhys thought to himself as he picked up the glowing shards, they’d cut against one of the fragile veins that held the concentrated Eridium and it had triggered a chain reaction throughout the rest of the piece. The CEO sighed and gathered the little pieces with his cybernetic right hand, swift and gentle to place them into a little pouch he kept strung around his waist and hidden beneath the frills of his black, yellow and white suit.

‘What a waste…’ he tutted slightly, shaking his head as he stood straight again and stalked back out of the room so the repair teams could clean up. While Atlas was sitting on a growing Eridium deposit it still pained Rhys to see each accident and cock-up that sometimes inevitably followed each permit he gave to his researchers to work with the stuff. Eridium was money and extremely precious in the corporate world and for a man like Rhys and for a company like Atlas he couldn’t allow such accidents to keep on happening.

‘Rhys, I’m sure we raised you to actually have some kind of manners.’ His father soon snapped at him from across the safety-taped doorway. “You know how rude that was to have just run off like that?”

‘Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that I was meant to be giving you an A-lister tour. Rhys said, eyes narrowing slightly as the yellow eyeshadow he wore glittered. “I think you forget that you are being walked around a _working company facility_. I can easily have you removed.” He almost hissed, glaring at the seven of them as he exited the room and stalked back into the corridor with them.

‘Don’t you take that tone with me young ma-‘

‘Don’t you dare take that tone with me in my own damned company, _father_.’ Rhys snapped out of spite, squaring straight up to him with his mismatching eyes burning in anger and fury. “I can easily have you put on the next shuttle and have you sent back to Dionysus if I so wish. Don’t think I won’t do that to my own family.” Rhys spat, watching his father actually be silenced for once. It was rare that ever happened, even Orion hadn’t really done that before, and it only made Rhys’ heart pound harder and harder within his chest – he knew his father would lose his temper at some point with him and make his life hell now that he’d pulled that stunt. The CEO turned sharply on his heeled boots and stalked off again, Celeste and Artemis following quickly to ensure he wouldn’t do something daft amidst his anger.

As Rhys stormed off he pulled out his private comm-link and immediately contacted Vaughn, shaking in his fury as he just wanted to speak to his friend. He desperately needed to talk to him since Vaughn always knew what to say or do to help Rhys feel better after such altercations with his family, the money man turned bandit king well-versed with how terrible Rhys’ family could be at the best of times.

_‘Rhys?’_

‘Vaughn? You able to talk for a minute?’

 _‘Yeah sure, what’s wrong?’_ Oh great, his tone had to have been that obvious then.

‘Family. Again. What the hell am I meant to do with them? I can’t keep them at Atlas, there was just an explosion in R&D and already father is being a pain in the backside.’

_‘I could always house them at Old Helios if you want? I know that they seem to prefer me to you, no offence.’_

‘None taken, I’ve known that for ages. Would that be alright?’

_‘Yeah sure! The only people that might get annoyed with them here is Fiona and Sasha, really. But I can deal with them. When do you wanna send them over?’_

‘As soon as you’re ready to take them.’

_‘That quick huh? Alright, I’ll get some rooms fixed up in the camp for them. I’ll send you a line when I’m ready for ‘em. Hang in there, bro.’_

‘Hanging. Really hanging.’ Rhys sighed, thanking Vaughn before signing off and turning as Celeste and Artemis had finally caught up to him. ‘You’re all staying at Old Helios with Vaughn once he’s ready for you. It isn’t exactly the safest place here in a working facility to house you on your… _unexpected_ stay.’ He stated calmly, watching his sisters with a stoic expression as they glanced at one another.

‘Rhys, you know you should ignore them when they get like that…’ Celeste sighed as Rhys shook his head.

‘Celeste, I’ve had twenty-six years of putting up with them, be it in person or over the ECHOnet. I’ve had enough.’

‘Then let us try and deal with them.’ Artemis offered, Rhys shaking his head again. ‘Rhys. Seriously. They’ll be more inclined to listen to us over you, little brother. Trust us to take care of this.’ She said calmly, setting a hand on his shoulder as Rhys gave a noise akin to a groan and just slouched against her.

‘Alright, alright. Just. Please keep them off my back until you’re all settled. I don’t know if I’ll be able to juggle Atlas, the seven of you and the business offer I have going with Maliwan at the moment without dying.’ Rhys huffed a little as the two sisters smiled gently down at him, Artemis even acting particularly nice for once.

‘Don’t worry yourself, Rhys. We got this.’ Celeste grinned a little, nodding and hugging him tightly before swiftly letting go the moment Orion, Dakota and Apollo appeared behind them.

‘Little baby gone off to cry?’ Dakota sneered, smirking as he crossed his arms and towered over Rhys regardless of the heels the youngest was wearing.

‘Go back to your modelling and crying over me taking your programmer position, Dakota, I haven’t the time for you right now.’ Rhys stated sharply as his PA nervously intervened with a clipboard holding several papers.

‘Sir? Rhys? Maliwan have sent through their latest offer in terms of what they’re willing to pay for the 100kg of Eridium.’ She mumbled nervously, sensing the tension between the siblings as Rhys turned and smiled charmingly. His face relaxed and all strains in his expression melted away, smile like honey on his glossy lips as he bent ever so slightly and examined the papers.

‘That’s all they are willing to pay? One million? Eva, send a reply back stating I was willing to spend ten million on a Vault Key. Eridium is on a par with how valuable one is, are they not aware of this?’ Rhys smirked in amusement. ‘Ten million or no deal. Maybe even twelve or no deal.’ He purred in her ear, leaning on her shoulder as he signed the small slip at the top stating he’d seen the messages and offers. Eva smiled, relaxing as Rhys’ strong scent of honey with wisps of gunpowder soothed over her nerves and his smile as slick as butter washed any nervousness away.

‘Yes, Rhys!’ she chimed, walking off quickly to continue sorting the deal with Maliwan as Orion raised a brow.

‘Pretty little thing. Where’d ya get her?’

‘Shut up, Orion.’

 

* * *

 

It felt like hours before Vaughn had finally gotten back to him about the new set up for his family at Old Helios, Rhys slouched over his desk in his office as he’d had to put them in the relatives’ housing in Old Haven until his friend’s reply. The two had agreed that Rhys would bring them the following morning, it being near midnight at that moment as he was struggling to stay awake. His black jacket was draped across the arm of the faux leather chair, the buttons of his waistcoat glowing a dim yellow that thankfully wasn’t enough to disturb Rhys as he worked on blueprints for his personal project. It had been time-consuming, that much was certain, but inevitably worth the hassle. Well, he hoped so anyway.

Rhys glanced up at the time, sighing deeply to see it was well on the way to being one in the morning, and soon pushed the blueprint folder away and sinking his head down onto the cool surface of the desk in exhaustion. His head was hurting and his eyes were straining to focus on anything anymore, sleep champing at the bit as he tried to fight it off. Though it was winning, the sandman creeping up behind him as Rhys rest his cheek against his arm and stared at his old ECHO eye he’d hung up around the arm of the lamp that illuminated the desk. He hadn’t crushed it, like many journalists thought he had done until proven otherwise. That wasn’t like Rhys to do that, not out of spite. Yes, he knew that the AI Jack had manipulated him and bent him to his own will and yes, Rhys was striving to correct all his wrongs and repent for what he’d done, but not at any point would crushing the AI out of spite and hatred make him a better man. Rhys strived to be better than those that wronged him, something driven into how he behaved since he was a child thanks to his family, and to have shown mercy to a merciless man was to make him a near-god among mortals. Well that was according to the media, and they loved to use as many juicy words as possible to catch their readers’ eye.

A yawn slipped past his lips and Rhys felt his eyes drooping slowly against his own will, a whine leaving him slightly as he struggled to stay awake just as he heard footsteps approaching. Though he gave up the moment he’d blinked once and his eyes had struggled to stay open, the tantalisingly close slumber claiming him at long last as his consciousness spiralled down into dreams and nightmares for the rest of the night. The footsteps Rhys had heard before he’d fallen asleep stopped outside his office, the door slightly ajar and enough for the person there to carefully open it a little wider and peak in. It was Orion. He hadn’t been able to sleep, always having been the last one to in the family, and had chosen to go for a wander down the silent hallways of the facility. A slight frown passed across his almost aged face, skin creasing slightly as he watched his little brother struggle to remain awake. It was almost funny, though the second he heard he regulated breathing that was soft and barely there he moved into the room and looked around.

Posters, newspaper clippings, art pieces, blueprints. All of those and more in varying designs plastered the honey and ivory walls of the office. A small fire projection on a faux fireplace screen had been crackling away though had now died down to warm embers, almost as if Rhys falling asleep had caused the fire to die down too for the night. It was peaceful and all Orion could hear was Rhys’ soft breathing. Rhys. Orion turned to look at his brother again and saw the ECHO eye hanging on its wires around the lamp arm. So that was the famed ‘prison of the AI’. The news had talked about it enough for Orion to have remembered it, and he didn’t exactly pay much attention to anything unless it was really important to him. Though now he thought about it, he cared for Rhys deep down. Really deep down, like in his left buttock or something. Speaking of Rhys, Orion noticed the goose bumps on his arms thanks to his sleeves being rolled up and the eldest brother couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

‘Stupid kid…’ he muttered, voice gruff and deep but not enough to disturb Rhys as he looked around before shrugging off his own particularly large jacket and draping it around Rhys’ thin shoulders. He knew, or at least hoped, Rhys wouldn’t bring it up in the morning since Orion rarely ever showed such affections for him. However all of the elder siblings held a deep care for their little brother who had fought death at birth and won, though Dakota was questionable in the way he displayed it. Orion himself pretended not to care and most of the time he didn’t, but now Rhys meant everything to him after Dionysus had received the news of Hyperion’s fall and the man behind it. The interviews, the biography, everything had gotten to Orion about Rhys and that was probably one of the many reasons why he no longer slept that much at night. Concern for their youngest.

Orion jumped a fair bit at Rhys stirring, holding extremely still as Rhys cuddled against the jacket a little bit more before settling again as he soon breathed sigh of relief. After all this time he still didn’t know if Rhys was a light sleeper or not, though now he guessed not as Rhys cuddled back against the jacket’s warmth and gave a soft sigh, almost, in his sleep. A small smile tugged at Orion’s lips as he couldn’t help but gently ruffle Rhys’ made up hair and take secret delight in how much he’d managed to mess it up in such a slight gesture.

‘Sleep well… little brother…’ Orion murmured calmly, thinking about the ordeals Rhys had been through that dwarfed everything any of them had gone through and then thinking about how far he’d come from it all. For once Orion was proud of him, he was proud of his little brother.


	3. Greetings from Old Helios, Farewell from Old Haven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is more Vaughn! And more family being asses. And mentions of a certain someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for not putting anything up/taking ages to! Late-night shopping on Tuesday meant I didn't get home until gone 10pm! Not to mention how I was at work all day again today!  
> Ah well, but here's something for you all to chew on! I hope it's up to scratch, I'm wired on Sprite and copious sweets right now just to stay even remotely functional!  
> Enjoy!

_‘C’mere, kiddo, lemme give you a lil hug…’_ Rhys jolted awake, looking around the shuttle that rattled around him. Where was he again? Oh right, on the shuttle to Helios with his family to drop them off with Vaughn.

‘You alright there, Rhys?’ Orion grunted, having been nudged hard by Rhys stirring so sharply. He’d watched his youngest brother slowly fall asleep about an hour ago, smirking and refraining from draping his jacket over his thin frame again. Rhys had indeed noticed that when he’d woken that morning and it warmed his heart a little, or at least certainly gave him some hope that not everyone in his family loathed his very existence. So much so he felt like he could have cried at such a simple gesture.

‘I… I’m fine… ETA?’ Rhys muttered, looking around with shifty eyes and a fidgety nature about him rather suddenly. That was a cruel trick for his mind to have played and not a single part of him appreciated it as he shuddered a little, almost feeling like someone’s hand had traced across his throat. It made him feel sick.

‘’bout twenty minutes.’ Orion nodded, otherwise silent as Rhys gave a slight nod before getting up and having to move around. That nightmare had shaken him sufficiently enough for him to be paranoid of a certain AI randomly appearing at any moment and had certainly been enough to make him doubt the confidence he’d held in his personal project thus far. Was he doing the right thing anymore? Rhys couldn’t be sure as he paced back and forth, waving off his bodyguard Loader Bot’s concern as he looked out the windows and saw Old Helios looming in the distance. Even from where they were, which was a fair few kliks away, Helios was still particularly dominating in the desolate landscape. It no longer appeared to glow purple and blue, something Rhys had admired during his rather hellish run on Pandora when they weren’t being shot at from every angle of every waking day, and the Eye no longer bore down on everyone’s backs as if Handsome Jack himself had been using it to watch _everything_.

The shuttle bounced and Rhys stumbled, the Loader catching him carefully and setting him back on his heeled feet.

 **[Do be careful, Sir.]** It toned, switching back to using ‘sir’ when in front of anyone that wasn’t solely Rhys or Vaughn as Rhys gave a nod of thanks, otherwise quite quiet for once as he stalked back and forth again. A chime sounded after a good few more minutes, making Rhys jump a little again. He was starting to look like the biggest pansy in front of his family and it wasn’t doing his reputation a shred of good, though the only good thing to come of it was that he’d been alerted to their arrival at Old Helios. Rhys didn’t take his seat, preferring to stand for the moment to be able to swiftly disembark and speak to his friend once the shuttle landed. Soon enough it did so and Rhys was off in a flash, leaving his family behind to mutter and talk amongst themselves as his mismatching eyes swiftly landed on the little masked bandit waiting patiently before him.

‘Vaughn!’ Rhys smiled widely, stalking over to him at a brisk pace before scooping him up in a tight hug. This one time he wasn’t afraid to let the ‘real’ him get the better of him as he almost swung Vaughn around in the hug. Rhys beamed down at Vaughn, grinning as the smaller pushed his mask up and grinned as wide as a Cheshire cat back to him.

‘That desperate, huh?’ he laughed softly, Rhys shaking his head with a pleasant smile and squeezing him again.

‘Oh you have no idea. Now. Accommodation.’ Rhys said, slipping swiftly into his ‘CEO voice’ the moment he heard his father’s disapproving tone of the ‘wasteland’ around them. Then, of course, all seven of them saw Vaughn after Rhys had let him go and had immediately crowded around him, pushing Rhys away a little.

‘Vaughn! Oh, darling, honestly how have you been?’ Rhys’ mother, Eden, cooed a little as she held his shoulders before kissing his cheeks. ‘You’ve matured so well! Beard and all!’

‘I’m proud of how far you’ve come from jus’ being the little money man we last saw you as.’ Polaris smiled, clapping Vaughn on the back before whistling. ‘Christ, you don’t even stumble at that anymore! You been working out?’

‘Well, I uh. Sort of?’ Vaughn blinked, a little flustered as he smiled and took it all in his stride as Rhys’ siblings crowded over to greet the man they hadn’t seen since they’d packed Rhys off to college and then Helios.

‘So ya lead an army now, huh?’ Apollo chirped, smiling widely as Vaughn went to answer before Celeste squealed.

‘You’re still as small as I remember you to be! And your clothes! They look good, for bandit attire!’ She cooed, hugging him tight as Artemis snorted.

‘Ah, but can you fight?’ She said, holding her hand up. ‘Go on, hit me.’ She challenged, Vaughn trying to get himself out of it before just huffing and punching her as hard as physically possible for his small physique.

‘Huh, not bad!’ She praised, Orion giving a low laugh as he wrestled Vaughn quickly before Dakota rescued him.

‘Leave the poor man alone, Orion, heaven’s sake!’ Dakota scolded, shaking his head as he dusted the little bandit king off before leaning on his shoulder. ‘Now. Something tells me you’ve been hiding that cute little six-pack from us this whole time. You know how hard it is to find a good underwear model in my line of work? You could be perfect-!’

‘O-kay! That’s enough of that one, thank you…!’ Vaughn laughed nervously, shaking his head quickly and feeling the blood rush to his cheeks as the five of them burst out laughing before Dakota huffed and crossed his arms.

‘I was being serious.’ Rhys felt himself growl as he clapped his hands loud enough to be heard over their laughter.

‘Well I’m _so_ glad this little reunion has gone so well, but I think I’m done here. Have fun staying with Vaughn for the foreseeable future during your stay on Pandora.’ He said almost bitterly, stepping back and stalking back into the private shuttle before departing. Dust was kicked up by the shuttle as it left, taking a while to settle in the wake of Rhys’ rather moody exit as Vaughn sighed deeply.

‘You guys have gotta stop.’  
 

* * *

 

Rhys gave a furious scream into a pillow the moment he’d gotten back to Old Haven, having called ahead and demanded for one to be presented to him _effective immediately_. He bit at it, he chewed at it and he screamed and cried as the Loader guided him back to his personal quarters deep within the penthouse district of Old Haven. Rhys wasn’t bothered if anyone saw him like that in such a state, they’d seen far worse of him on more than one occasion and to have a tight-knit family of a community was important to him, so to sacrifice some dignity was to make leaps and bounds in terms of trust and loyalty. Though now Rhys was just too tired and worn from his screaming, he realised as he walked into his room and just sank down on the plush, king-size bed. While he’d insisted he didn’t need such a ridiculously large bed his employees had told him otherwise and had gone out of their way to get him the biggest, most luscious bed they could possibly find on Pandora and Dionysus.

 _‘You’re our CEO after all, Rhys, you need a proper bed!’_ they’d all scolded him with after they’d found out about him just living it up in a single bed. It made Rhys feel good, but he was careful with himself and careful to not let it go to his head. He remembered just how power-hungry he had been once upon a time, and how he’d had no shame in hiding such a characteristic. A shudder passed through the company man as he rolled onto his back and stared up at the honeycomb-patterned ceiling, toeing off his boots and lazily unbuttoning the ‘posh outer attire’ of his suit before leaving it a mess on the bed for him to clean up later. He slowly moved about the stupidly huge room, burying his socked feet deep into the fluffed carpet and taking comfort in where he chose to root himself for that moment if only to get a grip on himself and his emotions. It took a while and soon he was moving around again, almost full of life as he had been the morning prior to his family’s arrival. Now it was just the matter of dealing with how _drained_ he felt.

Rhys gave an audible sigh of almost content, stress melting away as the Loader was kind enough to carefully light an incense stick that burned with the strong smell of honey. The corporate head couldn’t help but quietly admire his handiwork with the new Loader Bot line he’d taken up after Hyperion’s fall. They were leaner with improved coordination and a significant boost in each one’s programming to ensure they’d develop their own personalities. After the ordeal with Jack and how Rhys had noticed immediately afterwards how much he was being like Jack, he’d almost become obsessed with individuality – hence the non-uniform of his employees save for the little lanyard they had to wear, the no specific dress code (save for the rule of ‘common sense = sensible clothing = not getting hurt or otherwise), the promotion to _be yourself_. It built more trust, more loyalty and it overall, though he’d never admit it, helped Rhys move away from how Jack had run Hyperion and move _well_ away from his previous self of ‘trying to be like your idol in every which way you can accomplish it’.

Rhys’ mind turned to the man, or rather, AI he used to spend evenings talking with quietly while doing their ‘hell-run’ on Pandora for the Vault of the Traveller, taking out the ECHO eye that pulsed a steady blue in the dim lighting of the room. He never travelled anywhere without it just as he had never gone anywhere without Jack. Though now all there was left was silence. Palpable, irremovable silence. A part of him felt disgraced for how he’d forgiven the murderous intentions of the AI though a part of him missed him dearly. It felt, in those moments and even to this day, that Jack was the only man, aside from Vaughn (to an extent), who really understood how it felt to be neglected, unwanted at first, and then to be betrayed or loathed by those he held dearest. Rhys could only hate the silence that he’d been abandoned with and he could only be mad at himself for doing what simply had to be done. He just wished there had been another way, and there had been too! There had been a better option, had Jack just listened to him for once, to get him a proper body! But now, after the raging of the fire had died down to mere embers in the night, Rhys could enact upon that option himself without hindrance be it in the form of materials or people.

Rhys was going to bring Handsome Jack back from the dead, _again_.


	4. Dinner and Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaughn mediates, the family are still being rather mean and Rhys throws a spectacular tantrum to rival one of Handsome Jack's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, alright, I'm sorry for not updating! School started back up again and I've got mock exams and stuff going on, as well as coursework to keep up with! And revision. Yeah. So I'm sorry for not updating.
> 
> In regards to the chapter towards its end: just go with me on this one. I'll explain EVERYTHING next chapter whenever that one ends up happening. I swear. And I have relatively good logic and reasoning behind it all? I think?

Vaughn gave a small sigh as Rhys’ family were immediately complimenting him on how well he’d done for himself in the year or so since Helios had crashed and felt himself almost cringing at the praise, knowing it should have been Rhys’ praise for bringing down a tyrannical corporation and freeing the innocents trapped within its shackles. The Bandit King rolled his eyes for the fifth time as he tried to reiterate to them all that Rhys was the one who’d done this, not him, and that it was their _son_ who had defeated the Jack AI and assisted greatly in repairing Old Helios’ systems. However they were having none of it, insisting that it had been someone else rather than their ‘let-down of a son’ that had accomplished so much in such a time span and it was driving Vaughn insane.

‘Alright fine! Fine! You know what? Dinner. Here. Tonight. All of you _and_ Rhys.’ Vaughn said firmly, eyes narrowed at them all as he crossed his arms. ‘I don’t care if you think this is rude of me, you need to realise that Rhys isn’t the same guy he always has been in your point of view. He’s changed, he’s matured and he’s a damned CEO for cryin’ out loud!’

‘Vaughn, darling, you know we literally don’t care for what he achieves. We didn’t want him, we wanted another precious little girl. You know this.’ Eden said lazily, shaking her head as she smiled sickeningly sweetly at the Bandit King. Vaughn groaned audibly.

‘I _do_ know that, but you should really still be taking some notice of him don’t you think?’

‘Mmm… No. You know we tried every contraception in existence once we heard it was going to be a boy. He even came out with his umbilical cord around his neck and he _still_ survived!’ Polaris said rather harshly, uncaring it would seem as Vaughn sighed and backed off, knowing it would be impossible to win this fight now. The second Polaris would make that point, as everyone knew, was the second you’d have to stop arguing because there was simply no way anyone could win it.

‘Whatever. We’re having dinner together tonight, courtesy of the Children of Helios.’ Vaughn had to wave it off as much as it disgusted himself to. The seven agreed after a moment to the proposal, all of them bar Celeste and (inwardly) Orion not looking forward to Rhys being there.

 

* * *

 

Rhys gave a groan as he heard the ECHO-comm go off again, attracting his attention from where he’d been tinkering away on his old ECHO-eye and had been attempting to hardwire it into a spare laptop he had that held no ECHO-net connection.

‘Yes?’ he answered, not particularly caring at how unprofessional that sounded as Vaughn’s voice crackled to life across the connection.

_‘Hey Rhys! Just thought I’d let you know that you’re invited to dinner tonight!’_ Vaughn said as chirpy as ever as Rhys felt a smile grace his lips. He’d often enjoyed meals at Old Helios in the company of the Children and Vaughn and it had indeed been a long time since he’d last been there, now finding that he rather missed it.

‘I’d be honoured to attend, Vaughn.’ Rhys gave a soft chuckle, nodding to himself. ‘What time?’

_‘Ah… Around seven?’_ Vaughn suggested, Rhys agreeing. _‘Though, I’ll have to warn you… your family will be in attendance. Sorry Rhys.’_

‘It’s… I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. As long as I’m not sat between any of them and I’m beside you, I’ll be perfectly fine.’ Rhys waved off, shaking his head. ‘See you at seven, Vaughn!’ he said before hanging up, burying his face in his hands and giving a muffled screech. Right now, in the company of his own self, he cared not for how he must have looked to anyone looking in. Unprofessional, a mess, filthy and he’d been honestly feeling it lately. His project had been giving him more trouble than he felt it was worth, often blowing up any laptop Rhys attempted to synthesize the programming with if only because the processor couldn’t handle the sheer diversity of the AI. It was becoming a bigger nightmare to fix now. Rhys could worry about that later, he realised, as he looked at the time. Quarter to seven and he still needed to get ready.

‘Shit.’ Rhys cursed a little, getting up and having to leave his project be as he took the ECHO-eye and strung it back around his neck again. He looked down at its dead iris, watching it glint in the lighting of his private quarters and office. It still held the same hue the AI that used to frequent his vision held. Rhys shook his head a little to snap himself out of the reverie he had been in before moving to his wardrobe to choose what he’d wear. He’d have to make some kind of impression if he wanted his family to leave him alone, he realised. The CEO raided through each outfit he had to his name, soon selecting a blue and black casual dress. After spending a good while pulling it on, he rolled up the oddly patterned sleeves – one pinstriped and the other blank before gathering his waistcoat and buttoning it up so it hugged him tightly. Makeup took less than a few minutes and within ten he was ready to go.

‘Eva, ready my private shuttle please.’ Rhys said into his private comms, stalking out swiftly to his launch-pad where sure enough his terrestrial shuttle was waiting for him as always. ‘Thank you. Old Helios, quick as you please.’ He instructed upon taking his seat, leg folding over the other as it took off and in five minutes he was walking into the wrecked station. Vaughn was there to greet him, making Rhys’ face split into the biggest grin it had seen in a while.

‘Hey bro! Thank god you’re here, I was starting to wonder. You’re usually early.’ Vaughn chuckled softly, Rhys giving a small laugh as he enveloped the small bandit king in a hug.

‘I was aiming for punctual this time, but close enough.’ He purred lowly as he squeezed Vaughn once before letting go and walking inside with him. ‘I suppose they’ve all been complaining?’ Rhys asked, not particularly looking forward to the dinner with the family for the first time since ever.

‘Actually you’d be surprised. I guess they can’t be bothered to complain anymore.’ Vaughn shrugged as he led Rhys into the converted dining room that had been a meeting room once upon a time. Rhys whistled slightly upon seeing the renovated room, clapping Vaughn on the back with a smile.

‘Looks like you don’t need Atlas’ help in doing up the place, Vaughn.’ He grinned as he was shown to his seat, nodding his greeting to his family as they appeared to be acting rather… _civil_ for once. It unnerved him ever so slightly. Vaughn gave a little blush, shaking his head and acting particularly modest as he took his seat as well, gesturing for everyone to dig into the rather appetising-looking food before them all. Rhys gave another pleasant smile towards his friend before chatter started up, the family more interested in what Vaughn had been up to like they hadn’t spent all day with him. It almost felt like they were rubbing it in or something to Rhys and it hit several nerves to the point his charming mood was extinguished.

The dinner progressed calmly though before long Rhys had engaged in a particularly heated debate with Polaris and Orion about his behaviour in his own company, which hit a particular nerve that drew Rhys’ lips into a thin line in annoyance. He spoke clearly and concisely to them, holding his cutlery in a firmer grip before there was an almighty _bang_ that rocked the entire station. Eden gasped a little and set down her cutlery, holding some of the glasses that trembled and shook some of their contents all over the table as Polaris looked around in confusion.

‘Target practise, Vaughn?’ He asked, only mildly concerned as Rhys was up from the table in an instant and beside Vaughn at the command centre.

‘No. Bandits.’ Vaughn replied, surprisingly calm as Rhys radioed in to Atlas to ask for Loaders as backup.

‘Three war parties, the hell did you do this time?’ Rhys asked his friend in a hushed tone, eyes rather wide as he watched them all firing upon Helios station’s fragile upper structures. Rocket launchers, things that might have been some form of cannon, several high-range weapons and all war parties were armed to the teeth and furious at the Bandit King.

‘I honestly don’t know. Chances are some of my raiding parties screwed up.’ Vaughn winced, turning to Rhys’ family. ‘We gotta get them safe.’ Another blast rocked the station again, sending Rhys stumbling against the consoles.

‘Forget that, there’s no time! By the time they’re safe, Helios will be rubble _again_!’ Rhys said, taking on a tone of sheer authority that surprised his family somewhat. ‘Vaughn, ready the Children. I’ve called in Loader Bots to assist but they’ll take a little while to appear.’

‘We could always ask Gortys?’ Rhys gave a slight frown, reluctant to ask the adorable little spherical robot.

‘I don’t know if she’d be up for it. Besides, she’ll need pilots and you need to be here on the station.’ Rhys said. Another blast sent them to their knees, Rhys deciding in an instant and rushing to find the charming little robot.

‘Oh gosh, okay! Since it isn’t a scary teleporting monster, I’m sure it won’t be so bad!’ Gortys had chirped in agreement, swivelling her digital expression display to a nervous smile as she rolled out of the base under the guard of Loader Bot’s watchful optic to get to the since powered down ‘battle mode’. ‘Wait, who’s gonna be my pilots Rhys?’

‘Pilots?’ Polaris soon said, walking outside with the rest of the family much to Rhys’ displeasure. ‘Say ah, Gortys wasn’t it? How many you need?’

‘Five at least? I think?’

‘Ya think you could manage seven?’

‘Oh, yeah sure! Easily!’ Just as she’d said that, a large hand descended upon the siblings and parents, bringing them all in bar Rhys as he was left to flounder and watch them get used to one another pretty quickly before setting off to fight.

‘Seriously?! Am I just invisible to everyone now?!’ He squawked, staring in disbelief and growling before watching Vaughn, Fiona and Sasha speed off in one of the trucks.

‘Maybe you should sit this one out, Rhys!’ Fiona called back to him, the CEO twitching an eye and growling lowly. That was the last straw. An unholy rage was starting to build inside him and he clenched his fists, some kind of power starting to course through his body. It tingled from his cybernetic arm all the way down to his legs and before he knew it fire was burning in his eyes. He stalked onto the battlefield with no defences, no weapons, not even a simple shield to protect him. Rhys moved as if on automatic and without much thought nor care, careful of where Gortys was moving to and almost skating around her giant frame to get where he needed to go. Blue flames started to spiral in the palm of his metal arm and flickered away, somehow not melting him as great wings unfurled from his back and glowed the same hue. It certainly was enough to grab the attention of all the war parties of bandits and psychos attacking them, as well as of his friends and family.

Rhys raised his arm slowly, directing it at one of the armoured trucks before closing his fist slowly and watching as the truck crunched in on itself before disappearing entirely, occupants with it. In an instant everyone scattered and focused their firepower on him rather than on the Bandit King they were originally after, Rhys growling as markings extremely similar to a Siren’s glowed brightly and seemed to burn themselves into the plating of his arm. He was then a blur, moving between everything as time slowed enough around him to pass through unharmed before he would take a knife to each and every single attacker’s throats. He burned through any Eridium sources he happened to have had on him in the small pouch of mishaps that he never travelled without, as well as any he had already had absorbed in something akin to a temper tantrum. Every bandit, every psycho had been left for dead the second Rhys had moved in such a blur and by the time he came to a stop everyone that had amassed to form these war parties had had their throats slit or hearts stabbed through.

Vaughn stared in _fear_ for his friend, watching him move so fast in such an almost elegant manner that held them in a trance state.  Then he’d stopped just in front of the truck the Bandit King had taken with the girls, powers seeming to just switch off. He swayed, stumbled almost, before collapsing. Rhys’ personal Loader, Elbie, had since arrived on-scene and came straight over to the collapsed man, carefully picking him up in its strong arms as Elbie’s singular red optic stared at the family that had exited Gortys’ ‘battle mode’.

**[My master needs to rest.]** Was all Elbie stated before stalking off and taking one of the since-repaired Fast Travels to Atlas, Rhys limp against its frame and on the verge of being unconscious.

‘What. Just. Happened.’ Orion stared, all eyes turning to Vaughn as he stared back hopelessly and with just as much confusion in his face as in theirs. Rhys was a Siren. He was a Siren that had just thrown a temper tantrum and murdered every last bandit and psycho that had tried to kill Vaughn.

‘I… I think I need to lie down…’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeehh I really hope that whole 'surprise Rhys is a Siren!' thing doesn't throw anyone off this story D: It's a kind of spur-of-the-moment thing that I thought out carefully after thinking of it. I figured out the logic and reasoning and whatnot behind it and I'll explain in the next due chapter but let me know what you think!
> 
> If you aren't fond of it, let me know! If there's a majority that dislike it, chances are I might rethink having it in here. But before you criticise completely and before I make a definite decision, wait until the next chapter is out with the explanation behind it all! It might make sense, it might not! If it doesn't, please please PLEASE let me know and I'll reconsider it's worth.
> 
> Other than that, I hope you enjoyed it!


	5. Impossible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's impossible. Really and truly impossible. There's no way Rhys could possibly have ever been a Siren. And yet here the evidence lay before him. Maybe he was a Siren.
> 
> .... no. Still impossible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *screams into the void* I'M SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING AND I'M AN IDIOT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGHGHG
> 
> Okay, now that's outta my system let's get on with this!

The last thing Rhys could remember, in any form of clarity, was just feeling _so_ enraged, so furious that he was sure he must have passed out. He recalled how his family had taken over what would have been his job, his chance to prove himself to them, and he recalled how someone had yelled that he ought to have sat that battle out. What he didn’t remember was how he’d gotten from Old Helios to New Haven in what felt like the blink of an eye. Rhys didn’t remember how he’d gotten changed into his soft, silky pyjamas and he didn’t remember getting into bed with a cold flannel placed across his forehead – wait, he never used cold flannels. Why was there one on him now? Surely he wasn’t down with a fever, that couldn’t be right. Though, now he thought about it in such a groggy manner, he _was_ feeling rather warm. Peculiarly warm.

Rhys finally sat himself up, groaning weakly and removing the cold flannel someone had placed on him in what may have been a thoughtful gesture. He couldn’t tell.

‘Elbie?’ Rhys mumbled, looking around with hazy eyes for his personal Loader bot before feeling an itch on his shoulder and instantly going to itch it. Though the second he did, it was burning instead and he hissed in pain, looking down at his flesh arm only to see what looked suspiciously like Siren markings almost _moving_ around his arm. He let out a cry of surprise and promptly fell off his bed, not noticing how close he’d been placed to the edge of it. When the CEO checked his arm again the markings were still there and it created a sickened feeling in the pit of his stomach. His _empty_ stomach. God he was hungry.

‘Elbie?’ Rhys called again, tentatively now as he realised Elbie must have seen the markings if he had been the one to have changed Rhys into more comfortable clothes. A sigh left his lips and his eyes closed as he just lay there, sprawled on the floor with his legs still mostly on the bed, or at least against its side, and took minor comfort in the soothing coolness of the metal floor. It reminded him of how Helios’ floors felt considering he’d spend a curious amount of time being shoved into them with any fights he’d accidentally gotten himself into.

 _Helios_.

Vaughn! He’d forgotten all about Vaughn! Rhys’ eyes flew open and he scrambled to his feet, knees buckling a little as he felt so incredibly drained. Nausea washed over him once, then a second time but noticeably harder as he gripped the bedside cabinet to stop himself from falling over. Rhys gagged once, twice, three times before stumbling towards his bathroom, praying he’d make it and doing so just in the nick of time. It was mainly bile, since he hadn’t exactly eaten much for dinner before they were so rudely interrupted, and it left a bad taste in Rhys’ mouth and a burn in his throat. His grip on the toilet was iron, metal hand almost threatening to crack its porcelain surface as he heard the thudding steps of Elbie approach and a blanket being draped around his shivering frame.

 **[Rhys, are you quite alright?]** Elbie asked, lowering himself slightly to Rhys’ level, **[Given the circumstances I see that is a nonsensical question, but I must ask regardless.]** All Elbie was met with was a weak whine, Rhys spitting into the toilet bowl again before opening his eyes and giving a startled noise. His vomit was borderline _purple_.

 **[Well. That isn’t normal.** ]

‘Oh, no _shit_ , Elbie…!’ Rhys coughed as Elbie fetched him a glass of water from the nightstand, sitting away from the toilet and huddling the blanket close before sipping the cold water. ‘What even happened? Why am I at Atlas in my pyjamas? Where’s Vaughn?’ Rhys couldn’t stop the tirade of questions leaving him in his weary state, Elbie joining him and once again lowering himself to speak with Rhys.

 **[You appeared to attack the war parties with a type of unknown power that manifested itself in the form of a Siren’s. However, given your gender, it should be highly impossible that you are indeed a Siren.]** Elbie toned, watching Rhys’ eyes almost burst out of his sockets in shock. There was no way he could have done _any_ of that!

‘Should be???’ Rhys soon picked up on in fright, staring at Elbie in almost upset.

 **[On the other hand, look at your arms.]** Elbie stated, Rhys frowning and looking down only to see the markings on _both_ his arms. **[You did not have those markings on either of your arms prior to this incident. Given the evidence of your suspected ‘powers’ and the Siren markings on yourself, it is now highly likely that you may indeed be a Siren.]**

Rhys fell into stunned silence, staring down at his arms and watching the markings almost appear to move and shift around his arms with how swirly they were. If there was one thing that caught his eye it was how they’d actually _burned_ into his cybernetic arm and glowed dully in the bright light of the bathroom. It wasn’t possible. Sirens in themselves were rare as it was but to have a _male Siren_ was a biological, mythological, general impossibility! Rhys shouldn’t have existed! Certainly there had been rumours and mysterious accounts of male Sirens actually existing but they had existed decades, maybe hundreds, of years before Rhys’ time and tended to happen every _thirty to forty generations_! There was, statistically speaking, a one in ten million chance out of those generations of the Siren DNA being ‘unlocked’ fully in one male _without_ killing them at birth and even then there was a high percentage of miscarriages and stillborn cases with potential male Sirens. Sometimes even after birth they could still die!

And yet here Rhys was, living and breathing at age 26, and probably a male Siren.

‘How is this even potentially _possible_ , Elbie?’ Rhys said quietly, surprisingly quietly in fact as Elbie shifted a little before speaking again with carefully chosen words.

 **[It is uncertain. Sirens exist in general through unknown means. However, all have been female thus far. It would stand to reason to have you tested for excess levels of oestrogen.]** Elbie offered, watching Rhys carefully with a slightly narrowed aperture. Already he could detect Rhys growing more and more distressed, there was no part of his core programming that wanted to add to that.

‘Is there anything in any legends? Stories? There must be _something_ about male Sirens in all the stories and accounts and rumours!’ Rhys cried a little, growing desperate for something to settle his nerves as to his own existence. Elbie was quiet for a moment, scanning through every last bit of data he’d collected while Rhys was unconscious and resting as he couldn’t help but pick up on how Rhys was surprisingly active after burning out any and all Eridium supplies that may have been on his person at the time of the attack.

**[There is an abundance of ‘evidence’ that suggests male Sirens may have been given the rare possibility of life to keep ‘balance’ between the six females. A mediator, some theorise, or a peacekeeper with the power to cancel out the others’ if need be.]**

Oh, that didn’t settle Rhys’ racing heart and nerves whatsoever.

 

* * *

 

By the time Vaughn had even remotely managed to wrap his head around everything he’d witnessed on that heavily-bloodied battlefield it was nearing midnight and he hadn’t yet heard from Atlas on Rhys’ condition. The family had been talking about it nonstop and they’d been trying to get in and question the little bandit king, something Vaughn _really_ wasn’t up for at all as he lay on his bed with closed eyes. He hadn’t slept, he’d just been trying to think about everything that had happened as he recalled it.

_Rhys had gotten mad, Vaughn had just gotten into the fight and then Rhys was suddenly gone! Then Rhys was there again, covered in blood and panting before he’d collapsed and got taken away!_

He couldn’t make sense of it, not at all, and the moment Vaughn dared brave leaving his room he was confronted by Orion and Celeste. Polaris and Eden were talking in hushed tones to one another outside still, or so Vaughn had last been informed, while Dakota had kicked up one hell of a temper tantrum in evident disgust and displeasure at what they’d witnessed. When Vaughn entered the dining room, Artemis was oddly quiet and so was Apollo, the two sitting side by side at the since-cleared table while Orion had been pacing up and down the room, Celeste leaning against the wall. All looked mildly concerned but none more so than Celeste and Orion and the moment Vaughn had entered the room they’d jumped at the chance to speak with him.

‘Please tell me you got some kinda idea as to what the hell happened out there?’ Orion said, voice gruff and firm as ever though Vaughn couldn’t help but detect an undertone of concern. He shook his head.

‘Orion, I really don’t know what the heck that was. I’m sorry, but I don’t. I’ve been wracking my brain and I’ve been thinkin’ about how Rhys was up on Helios before all this mess and this has _never_ happened before.’ Vaughn mumbled apologetically, Celeste shaking her head.

‘I’m telling you, Orion, Rhys could be a male Siren. You saw what he did, you saw!’

‘Celeste, will you stop with that ridiculous theory!’ Dakota finally snapped after his long period of silence following his original tantrum. ‘That little snot-nosed brat isn’t a Siren! He isn’t special, he hasn’t got any powers and he isn’t a Siren! That was just some stupid display he put on!’

‘Oh come off it, Dakota, you saw what happened.’ Apollo said sharply, standing and squaring up to his brother. ‘You know what you saw, your eyes can’t deny it!’ Artemis then stood, shaking her head.

‘While I hold almost no doubt that what we saw was real, there is an element of doubt. All evidence points to Rhys being a Siren, perhaps the only male one in existence that we are aware of. But at the same time it simply isn’t plausible that he _is_ a Siren.’ Vaughn sighed.

‘I’ll travel over to New Haven tomorrow, it’s too late to get any real answers right now. So unless any one of you want to grill your parents and ask if they know anything, I’d suggest we all just try and get some rest while there’s still some of the night left. Okay?’ Vaughn said, pinching the bridge of his nose between forefinger and thumb as they all gave mutters of agreement. All of them reluctantly moved off to their designated rooms bar Orion, the eldest son waiting for his parents to come back inside. The way they’d acted had been particularly suspicious as they’d barely flinched upon seeing such behaviour from Rhys and he wanted to know _why_.

He sat with Vaughn for another hour until they finally walked back inside, expressions grim as they sat at the table with the other two men. Vaughn looked up with tired and weary eyes, bags definite under them as he cradled a mug of coffee close to him.

‘You two certainly took your time…’ he mumbled in near-exhaustion, he just wanted to go back to bed it was way too late in the night to be dealing with this. Polaris shook his head and sighed, head in his hands as Orion watched them.

‘We… we’ve known Rhys was a Siren since he was little.’

‘ _What?!’_

‘He was born with markings, yes, but then they just disappeared over time following his… accident. Orion, you recall how he was always wearing long sleeves? Even in the summer months on Dionysus?’

‘Yeah. I still don’t get how the hell you could’ve known and not told us.’ Orion said, curiously calm and collected about this as Vaughn stared incredulously.

‘You’ve known this _entire_ time and you didn’t _tell_ him?’

‘The hell were we meant to say? “By the way Rhys, not only did we not want you but you’re also a god damned Siren! But we thought we wouldn’t tell you since your marks all disappeared the day you lost your arm, y’know!”’ Polaris almost snapped, rolling his eyes. ‘If we were to have told him, word would’ve gotten out and our _biggest disappointment_ would have brought bad frickin’ luck to our family, more than he already has!’

‘Hey!’ Vaughn growled, eyes flashing in anger. ‘That’s enough. I wanna know more about how you _knew_ and said _nothing_.’ He snarled. Polaris swallowed a little, sitting back in his seat. When Vaughn got angry like that, especially over Rhys, people like Polaris knew their place and backed down.

‘He didn’t exactly display very much in terms of actual _powers_ , most of the time he’d just sit there making them glow sometimes until we told him to just cut it out. Then when he lost his arm…’

‘How did he lose it?’

‘He didn’t tell you?’

‘He doesn’t remember. All he knows is there was a fight and he was hurt pretty damned bad for him to have lost his arm.’

‘Huh. Well, yeah there was a fight. He was defending a friend when he was, I dunno, maybe ten? And these kids that were twice his size decided they weren’t having that and beat the living shit out of him and then turned on his friend. All I got told by the school was that Rhys had sorta clenched his fists and gotten really, _really_ frickin’ angry before he’d screamed and there was some kinda really bright, blue-white light that severely burned the kids beatin’ his friend up.’

‘And Rhys?’ Polaris shrugged.

‘Doesn’t remember it, neither does his friend. Still dunno who that kid was.’

‘ _What happened to Rhys??’_ He shrugged again.

‘When the light finally stopped and faded his arm was gone. I think whatever he’d done backfired onto himself since he was so little and he couldn’t control it. Either way, seared his arm clean off. There wasn’t any blood or anything. It cauterized the wound straight away. Since then, his markings disappeared. Hell knows why they appeared now of all times.’

Vaughn stared at Polaris before nodding slowly, carefully taking his time to process all of this information that felt as if it had just been dumped upon him. Rhys, his nerdy best friend of god-knows-how-many-years, had been a Siren his entire life without knowing it. Reality as Vaughn knew it had been swept away from him in an instant, like tears in rain, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to look at Rhys the same way he’d used to ever again.


	6. Guess who's back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys was sure he was going to fall asleep at this rate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hurhur I'm stupid for not updating sooner but this chapter's given me a little bit of trouble, not to mention my mad scrambling to get my stupid coursework done sooner XD Hurr, I'm so tired and the next update is probably gonna be a while off again, so you might wanna get used to the sparseness folks! o3o
> 
> GLITTERY DICK AHOY

‘The Board can take over Atlas until such time as I am emotionally capable to take it back.’ Rhys stated, voice firm in spite of his emotional instability. There were mutters from around the Board’s video-projected members before they all agreed to run it as Rhys would if he were in charge. His emotions had been running wild in the two days following his realisation of the likelihood of him being a Siren and he’d made no contact with Old Helios, with Vaughn or his family, busy struggling to balance work, business deals, looking pretty and formal _and_ emotional breakdowns _and_ his personal project and he’d finally reached the point he couldn’t do it anymore. After all, something that had sparked it had been a particularly stressful outburst following an important meeting with the head of Maliwan. The moment he’d been informed of their leave he’d lost it, storming off to his room and feeling the familiar tingle of power start to course through him again and in a matter of minutes, or maybe even an hour, Rhys had woken up on the floor. A damaged Elbie had informed him of another dangerous outburst, one the bot had managed to keep contained to the room until Rhys burned himself out but not before bringing significant external damage to the Loader. It pained Rhys to see what he’d done, regardless of how Elbie tried to soothe him, and he’d taken the only course of action he could deem necessary – to hand over control to the Board of Atlas and thankfully they had agreed to run the company in Rhys' mannerisms until such time he could cope.

Rhys sighed as he hung up on the ECHO-comm, sitting back in his chair from where he’d taken the call and groaning. He put his head in his hands, reluctant to reach out to Old Helios and contact Vaughn in fear of bringing nothing but harm to him and, to a lesser extent, his family.

‘I’m a freak...’ Rhys said, staring quietly at the deactivated ECHO-comm on his desk with steadily glazing eyes. ‘No man was ever meant to be blessed or cursed with the power of the Siren. So why am I?’ he asked no one, not expecting an answer. But then he was sure he heard a whispering, quiet and in his ear in an oh-so-familiar voice that brought chills to his thin frame and goose-bumps to his delicate, porcelain skin. Rhys had been waiting for a voice such as that to grace his ears ever since he’d started his little personal project and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at an almost ghostly touch. He was sure someone was there, so sure he could have sworn on his life, but as he turned the CEO saw nothing. Not even a familiar glimmer of blue pixels. Rhys felt his heart sink deeper into his chest and the ache within it grow tenfold. Of course Jack wouldn't be there, why would he be? It wasn’t like Rhys was trying to _bring him back or anything._

**[Sir? Is there anything I can get you?]**

‘No, no thank you Elbie. Are your repairs finished?’ Rhys muttered quietly, eyes weary as he spun his desk chair about to face the repaired and shining Loader that had just arrived in his room from maintenance.

**[Yes. Thank you. Please know it is not your fault, Rhys, you cannot be expected to fully understand nor control the extent of your powers just yet. You are what a Siren would deem a fledgling. With respect, of course.]**

Rhys sighed softly and nodded. ‘I know. I had just hoped I wouldn’t be so... _dangerous._ I can’t go to Vaughn, I could seriously hurt him what with my family there and all.’

**[Then request that he come to you, Rhys.]**

Rhys stared as if Elbie had slapped him with something so obvious and for all intents and purposes he had. Of course! Vaughn had said repeatedly he never minded coming to New Haven to see Rhys if he couldn’t make it out to Old Helios! How could he have forgotten? Oh, wait, of course. Vaughn would no doubt be under some sort of questioning by Rhys' family concerning his state and he’d also no doubt be _afraid_ of him now. The smile that had plastered itself across Rhys’ emotionally worn face vanished, Elbie's aperture narrowing as he could quite clearly see the internal debate no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

**[I will call Vaughn here at once. You have spent several days attempting to isolate yourself. You need him.]**

‘Huh? Elbie! No! I could hurt him!’ Rhys tried but he was, for once, too slow for the lean Loader Bot that had stalked out swiftly and had immediately begun to dial Vaughn on the improved ECHO-net. The CEO gave an audible groan and sank back down into his seat, calling in to Genetics and R&D to see about the multiple samples they’d taken from him to understand if anything had changed. R&D had turned up nothing of great significance yet however Genetics _had._ There was a definite increase in oestrogen hormones and they had taken to theorising that that had been one factor in tipping this reaction off as well as his general emotional instability given the presence of his family, that not exactly being enough to settle his nerves as Rhys took to pacing yet again in the space of half an hour. He wouldn’t be surprised if he looked at the carpet one day and saw each step had worn its softness away.

 **[I have called Vaughn. He is on his way. I suggest you prepare yourself for his arrival.]** Elbie said upon entering Rhys’ room, the CEO sighing and sinking onto the soft carpet with a groan. He almost wished he hadn’t virtually copied Loader Bot’s personality and tweaked it in his favour, Elbie was too kind to him sometimes. He wanted someone to scream at him, shout at him, someone that wasn’t _meant_ to be nice to him by default and he couldn’t help but think of his own family at that. Rhys had never truly known what he’d done to upset them all so much to the point they’d treated him like dirt for a large majority of his life. Wait, no, the _entirety_ of his life.

‘Sir?’ It was Eva. God bless her soul for interrupting Rhys’ dark trail of thought. ‘Sir, your personal project has finished synthesizing.’ She called in, attracting Rhys’ attention and in but a split second as he flew up from his place on the floor and sprinted out the door in a flash. A little while back he’d set the repaired and altered AI of Handsome Jack to synthesize with a heavily-modified digistructing platform, capable of digistructing synthetic flesh. The only problem was that it needed a _lot_ of time to thread every last bit of descriptive data into the platform and that had taken, at best, two weeks or so of waiting for it to completely code itself in. He’d been waiting ever so patiently for it to finish, gradually losing hope every time he checked on its status only to see it was _still_ synthesizing, and now the time had come at long last. Rhys was nervous and excited all at once and it made him want to throw up as he burst into the laboratory where the platform’s screen was glowing a warm blue with the words ‘Synthesis complete’ loud and clear on it. He stepped over slowly, heart pounding in his chest as he set his hand on the biometrically locked controls and granted permission for it to begin the construction of Jack’s body. Rhys watched as the machine complied and steadily built the body pixel by enlarged pixel, able to see thin glowing outlines of each pixel before they fused with the previously placed ones and formed solid matter. It was a beautiful process, mind-blowingly so and soon Rhys was starting to grow impatient – he wanted to see Jack and he wanted to see him _now_! He wanted to know he’d finally succeeded in keeping his final promise to the dying AI, he wanted to know that he’d been successful in his nearly year-long mission of reviving him and while he knew there would be nothing but controversy and criticism waiting for him when the news finally got out, Rhys just wanted Jack back. He _needed_ him back. He needed to hear his smug voice in his ear again, he needed the ghostly hand on his shoulder but in flesh this time, he needed to know he was pleasing _someone_ on this godforsaken rock and he needed to know he could do _something_ of use.

Ten minutes passed. Fifteen. Nearly an hour before the machine had gotten up to the constructed waist of the man and it was here that Rhys finally snapped out of his reverie and noticed that the body the machine was building was butt naked. _Oh_.

‘Eva? Kindly fetch some clothes please, medium or large sized. Trainers too.’ Rhys said calmly into the earpiece he’d taken to wearing to be able to get into contact with his people faster – slim, lightweight and the earliest in his few prototypes of Atlas earpieces as it beat carrying around ECHO comms all the time. He gave a nod to himself upon hearing her diligent agreement, lacing his fingers together behind his back as he waited… and waited… and waited…

Rhys was sure he was going to fall asleep at this rate. 

* * *

 

  **[This way please, Vaughn, Rhys is in his private lab waiting for you.]** Elbie chimed contently as he gestured for the Bandit King to follow, greeting him at the Fast Travel he’d stepped out from. Everyone was rather pleased Rhys had upgraded Hyperion’s previous take on the travel system as it certainly shortened walking times or even vehicle journeys, especially since there was a private system Vaughn, Fiona, Sasha and August all had access to that ran from New Haven to Old Helios and back again and taking but seconds to arrive at each destination. It was a blessing and Vaughn knew that better than anyone as he’d taken to using it perhaps the most to be able to visit Rhys when he couldn’t take a shuttle or when Rhys was too busy himself to take the time out for a shuttle either, sometimes even too busy to Fast Travel to Old Helios.

‘Thanks, Elbie.’ Vaughn smiled, his sun-tanned features creasing a little with the smile as he followed the redesigned Loader Bot into the facility. Every time he visited he couldn’t help but be taken aback in awe at the metal city before him – Rhys had done a brilliant job in renovating the entire place and the town around it, cleaning up all the blood, Vasquez’s arm, reprogramming all the security drones to recognise and work for him, employing those who survived the Helios crashed who still desired the corporate employment lifestyle and basically rebuilding Atlas from the ground up. From where Handsome Jack had left it in the dust to rot. It was incredible and Vaughn often had a hard time believing the people who said otherwise and criticised Rhys heavily, sometimes getting riled up and acting as Rhys’ almost impromptu bodyguard. It was strange, sometimes, but Vaughn loved it.

 **[Rhys will be most pleased to see you since the incident.]** Elbie hummed out as he led the way for Vaughn through the twisting, turning, labyrinthine halls of Atlas. **[He believes he could harm you and those staying at Old Helios if he visited you. Hopefully your visit today will be able to convince him otherwise.]** Vaughn gave a soft laugh and nodded, looking at the broad back of the lean-built Loader.

‘Oh, I’m sure I can help him see reason, Elbie. He’s probably just still really shaken up over this whole ‘surprise I’m a Siren’ thing.’ He smiled as he walked contently behind, arms behind his back and frame hunched slightly in his usual manner as they soon reached the closed doors of the private lab of the CEO. Even now it felt a little bizarre that Rhys had his own lab, especially after he’d sworn he wouldn’t try for any more bonkers projects like last time – he’d made, quite by accident, a mix between a Skag and a kitten that had eaten through the bars of its cage and had tackled Rhys to the floor, the CEO still claiming it wouldn’t hurt him even as it proceeded to try and bite at his face. Never again, Rhys had sworn after having it ‘decommissioned’, never a-frickin-gain.

As they approached the doors of the lab Vaughn could quite clearly see a soft blue glow emanating from beneath the heavily-built blast doors, a frown starting to paint his face as he wondered why on Earth Rhys would be in there after the promise he’d made. Random and rapid thoughts filled the little Bandit King’s mind as Elbie knocked on the doors firmly, the sound resonating around the halls in a metallic tone before one opened just enough for Rhys to pop his head around.

‘Oh, Vaughn! You’re here!’ Rhys gasped a little, smiling as he didn’t yet step out from behind the door, Vaughn grinning a little.

‘Hey bro. Elbie made sure I got here nice and quick to see you.’ He chuckled lightly before stepping closer as Elbie stepped away a little and gave them some space. ‘Can I just ask, though, what is that blue glowy thing behind you?’ Rhys’ smile almost instantly vanished, it playing on his lips faintly though Vaughn could see the evident hesitance in his eyes and his expression. Rhys was still just as bad at concealing his emotions as the day Vaughn met him, it was almost adorable.

‘Nothing. Nothing you need to worry about anyway.’ Rhys stated almost too quickly, still not moving out from behind the door as there was a beeping from the machine that drew the CEO’s attention from his best friend. Immediately Vaughn’s worry was indeed spiked and he watched as Rhys disappeared back into the lab, door swinging shut behind him but not closing entirely and stayed on its latch. It was almost inviting to Vaughn to check it out, but he didn’t want to betray his friend’s trust – especially not after having to work with him for so long to help him over the PTSD he’d been stuck with since the crash. No, he couldn’t do that to Rhys. He just _couldn’t_.

But then he heard a voice that wasn’t Rhys’ coming from inside and the temptation swirled within him, hand almost reaching out as Elbie watched silently and judgingly.

_‘Rhysie? Why am I bare-ass naked?’_

That was definitely _not_ Rhys and Vaughn couldn’t help himself as he pushed the door open on its double hinge, stepping in and holding the door so it wouldn’t slam shut on him and alert his presence as his eyes closed at the glare of the bright blue light before him. He was sure that was a digistructing platform that was causing that, but why would Rhys need one of those? And so secretively at that? It was strange but not as strange as the sight that lay before the Bandit King when his eyes finally adjusted to the light.

There, in complete naked glory and with a slightly glittering cock, stood Handsome Jack.


End file.
